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Why do some animals display extraordinary behaviors before an earthquake?

What are some beings’ attitudes in the face of dangers?

What are some of the animal senses stronger than those of human beings?

Beings With Danger Signal

One of the biggest advantages of living as a community is that it provides more protection against dangers because when any of the animals that lives in the community senses danger, it warns the other animals instead of simply silently escaping . Every living species has a specific form of warning.

Rabbits and some deer lift their tails to warn the animals around them when they sense danger.

Many small birds signal alarm by a particular birdcall when they sense their enemies. Species like the golden oriole make a high-pitched sound with a narrow frequency interval when they give an alarm. The human ear senses this as only a slight whistle. The most important quality of this sound is that its source cannot be detected. This is a very important advantage for the bird warning its pack, because the bird actually takes the risk of drawing all attention to itself by sounding off, but since the direction of the sound is not certain, the danger is somewhat reduced.

In insects that live as colonies, the insect that first senses the danger warns the rest of the colony. However, the alarm scent secreted by the insect that communicates the danger also grabs the enemy’s attention . Therefore, the insect that warns its colony against danger also takes the risk of death.

Prairie dogs live in massive colonies. Their nests, which bear resemblance to a city, are divided into approximately 30 sections where the animals live. All of the animals in this region know one another. There are certain prairie dogs which keep guard at all times standing on their back feet in a way as to see in all directions at the entrance and exit of the tunnels. If one of the animals sees an enemy, it makes a barking sound like a whistle. This warning is repeated by the guards, and it causes the colony to go into an alarm state.

Scientists who witness this cooperation in nature are amazed at the extraordinary behaviors of these unconscious behaviors. No doubt, Allah is the One Who directs these beings with His inspiration at all times, controls every one of them and commands them how to behave. This clear truth is revealed in the Qur’an as such:

“Everything in the heavens and every creature on the earth prostrates to Allah, as do the angels. They are not puffed up with pride. They fear their Lord above them and do everything they are ordered to do.” (Surat an-Nahl, 49-50)

Animals With Different Senses Than Human Beings

Allah created animals’ sensory organs as stronger than those of human beings. Some animals even have other sensory organs which humans do not have, for example:

Since elephants are animals that live in vast open areas, it is very important that there is a strong “communication” between them. This communication is not only a result of elephants’ strong sense of smell . Besides this, Allah created an organ, which makes an ultrasound noise that humans cannot hear, in the elephant’s forehead. Thanks to this organ, elephants can communicate with a secret and encrypted language that other beings cannot understand. These ultrasound noises made by elephants can reach to enormous distances. Therefore, this special sound made by elephants is ideal for long distance communication.

Some beings’ eyes have far more advanced qualities than human beings. For example, insects and bees can see ultraviolet light that the human eye cannot . A layer in the eyes of mammals that hunt at nights and night birds called the “tapetum” allows these beings to see in the dark. Vultures in Africa can detect whether an animal lying on the ground is dead or just sleeping from a distance over 4,000 meters where human beings cannot see that far even with binoculars.

Some animals’ sense of smell is 100,000, even 1,000,000 times stronger than that of human beings. For example, dogs can sense even the slightest smells called microphakia. Thanks to these characteristics, dogs are used in the early diagnosis of some metabolic distortions seen in men and characterized by different body scents, as well as in police business like narcotics detection and searching for fugitive criminals and in the search for trapped victims of natural disasters such as landslides and earthquakes.

Some reptiles like the rattlesnake and horned viper have a special sensory organ that detects temperature changes. This organ, found inside a small concavity between the nostrils, is used to distinguish whether objects are warm or cold. Thanks to this organ, snakes can even detect low temperatures below 10C that come from a warm-blooded animal (for example a mouse). At the same time, it is also very sensitive against airflow and vibrations.

All beings emit electricity as well as heat. It is difficult for a being that lives on land to detect these flows, because air acts as an insulator. However, the situation is different under water. Electricity flows through water, which is a natural insulator. Therefore, a being that can sense this electricity has a very effective advantage. Thus, sharks are also beings with this advantage; they can sense all the vibrations in water, temperature changes, salt level of water and especially small changes in electricity fields caused by beings on the move.

There are many cavities in sharks’ bodies, filled with a jell-like substance. Even though these cavities are mainly placed inside the shark’s head, they are spread throughout the fish’s body. These special organs, called “ Lorenzini Bulbs” are perfect electricity sensors. Sharks and speckled rays find their prey by using these sensors. These organs are tied to the pores on the head and face of the animal, and they are very sensitive as electroreceptors. So much so that sharks can sense electrical displacement as minimal as one twenty billionth of a volt. This is an amazing force, because this means that when two 1.5 volt batteries are placed 1,600 kilometers away from one another, sharks would be able to detect the current emitted from these batteries.

Allah, the All-Knowing and All-Powerful, is the One Who creates these advanced senses of living beings or special organs. In one verse, our Lord’s art of creation is revealed as such:

“Allah created you from dust and then from a drop of sperm and then made you into pairs. No female becomes pregnant or gives birth except with His knowledge. And no living thing lives long or has its life cut short without that being in a Book. That is easy for Allah.” (Surah Fatir, 11)

Beings That Sense Earthquakes

Scientific research done has shown that tectonic layers are under a very powerful pressure before an earthquake and that rocks released electrically charged particles under this pressure. These particles go into reaction when they meet with air or water and cause new molecules to be formed. For example, hydrogen peroxide is formed as these particles mix with water. This incident, which changes the water’s chemistry in puddles, is sensed by living beings, and causes them to display extraordinary behaviors and sense the earthquakes beforehand.

In 2009, an entire group of frogs that lived in a lake close to the earthquake that affected the city of L’Aquila of Italy, left the area three days before the earthquake.

In 1975, almost one month before the earthquake that took place in the city of Haicheng, China, snakes collectively abandoned their nests. The unusual point is that these snakes left despite the freezing cold, which would lead to their deaths, by breaking short their hibernation for the winter.

In some regions, it was observed that deep-water fish surfaced before earthquakes.

As seen in these examples, every one of these beings is under Allah’s protection. Allah inspires each one of them how to behave and they follow this inspiration completely. Each and every one has submitted to Allah Who created them. In the Qur’an, this fact is revealed as such:

“Everyone in the heavens and earth belongs to Him. All are submissive to Him.” (Surat ar-Rum, 26)

Our Lord’s Infinite Mercy Encompasses All Being and the Universe

The fact that living beings maintain their lives thanks to the special sensory organs, instincts and alarm techniques our Lord granted to them, and that they protect especially their offspring against dangers with great care and cooperate with one another, are only some of the evidences of creation that one needs to think about.

There is no doubt that living beings do not make these characteristics of their own freewill. Everything in nature is the work of our Lord, Who has infinite knowledge and might, and each one moves with His inspiration. He has superior might, compassion, mercy, intelligence, knowledge and wisdom. This truth is revealed in one verse of the Qur’an:

"I have put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord. There is no creature He does not hold by the forelock. My Lord is on a Straight Path."(Surah Hud, 56)

Everything in nature is the work of Allah, Who has infinite knowledge and might. Allah is the One Who creates all beings, men, animals, insects, plants, all animate and inanimate beings, and Who has superior might, compassion, mercy, intelligence, knowledge and wisdom. In the verses, it is revealed as such:

“All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the heavens and the Lord of the earth,Lord of all the worlds. All greatness belongs to Him in the heavens and earth He is the Almighty, the All-Wise.” (Surat al-Jathiyya, 36-37)

There is an impeccable order in the entire universe. There is no doubt that this is the creation of Allah, Who controls animate and inanimate thing from the smallest microorganism to the giant planets of the Solar System. Every one of the beings, which are full of perfections, also submits to Allah Who created it and carries out the commands our Lord planned for it. In one verse it is revealed as follows:

“Say: ‘To whom does everything in the heavens and earth belong?’ Say: ‘To Allah.’ He has made mercy incumbent on Himself. He will gather you to the Day of Rising about which there is no doubt. As for those who have lost their own selves, they have no iman." (Surat Al-An‘am, 12)